Dr. G.C. Satpathy, M.D. (Medicine), in the CRPF Group Centre Hospital at Neemuch has attempted an analysis of the problems and perspectives of health care in the premier para military force-CRPF.
In the very first chapter, the author has in very general terms traced the history of Medicine and Police from varied times and their subsequent growth through ancient, medieval and modern times. The author also highlights the neglect in Police health care due to scepticism prevailing amongst policy makers. However, it is a moot point whether the negligence in Police health care is due to criticism among policy makers or due to lack of planning or lack of resources.
A cursory reading of this book gives one impression that the title ought to have been more appropriately Health Care in CRPF rather than Health Care in Indian Police Forces. I find some of the conclusions drawn by the author in the field of general policing is mainly based on his experiences in the CRPF.
The author refers to actions of Police men against their will and conscience and being compelled to do so by the senior administrators. This obviously is based on some of his odd personal experiences in certain insurgency infected areas. Perhaps, he may not be right in drawing a general conclusion for the Police Forces as a whole from such stray experiences.
He has, however, highlighted factors which lead to certain diseases among policemen, especially stress factors. He has also underlined the role of doctors in keeping the force healthy through not only preventive and curative treatments but also health education. The author has also laid importance on the need for higher studies among Medical Officers in CPOs. There is also the need for the Medical Officers to update their knowledge of advances in medical research through medical journals and by participation in seminars and workshops.
Using his experience in the CRPF Dr. Satpathy has covered functions of various field and base medical formations in this prestigious Force. Procurement of hospital stores, general stores, medical stores and diets for patients are all dealt with in detail. The need and importance of annual health checks, special problems of women members of the force and aid to civilians during natural calamities also find mention in the book.
In Chapter 10, he refers to the impact of various diseases on police duties. According to Dr. Satpathy, Malaria causes more damage to the force personnel than enemy action. He could have given statistics to show the adverse effect of Malaria vis-a-vis casualties in action which could have given an impetus to the disease eradication programmes. The Author has appealed for specialised hospital management, arranging visits of specialists to Police hospitals and exchange programmes with reputed hospitals for training police doctors. He has also rightly called for encouraging alternate medical systems like Unani, Ayurveda and Homoeopathy.
He feels that an integrated command and control of Hospitals of various CPOs would serve para-military medical services better by removing disparity in service conditions and ensuring uniformity in service conditions of hospital staff. He has also appealed for continuous modernisation, better planning in group health insurance schemes and utilisation of retired but active police officers gainfully.
Police has been the executive arm of the administration for centuries. The post-independent decades have seen the formation and growth of police forces with cancerous rapidity almost parallel to the lawlessness and terrorism. More and more specialised, equipped, sophisticated wings are being added to the spectrum of armed and unarmed police forces every year. The special task forces like National Security Guards (NSG), Rapid Action Force (RAF) in CRPF, rise of women battalions, etc. are the latest additions to the fighting police troops. Airport Security Force and India Reserve Battalions are on the cards. The coming years may see many such experiments. The police forces are constantly fighting an "Undeclared War" in our own streets. They are the vigilant sentries in our frontiers facing all hardships in life, separated from kith and kin. For the dynamic nature of duties, the police forces are to be kept physically fit, mentally happy and alert and morally sound. The greater police family spreads from the home guards to civil police, plain cloth policemen, state armed forces to the Central para-military forces with their specialised wings. The health care of this vast police family has been a challenge to the planners of police policies and leaders at the helm of affairs.
The police forces have to constantly maintain a high health profile to face the challenge of lawlessness and terrorism.
A devoted group of medical and para-medical personnel are engaged day and night to maintain the health care service in the police forces like behind-the-scene green room boys. They provide an efficient clinical and public health service ensuring the best of health and wellbeing of troops, preserve agility and fitness in them. The medical science as well as the police technics are advancing so rapidly with time, unless the wing of medical service in police forces keep on advancing at right pace, the service will lag behind. Its advancement needs thorough research on every aspect of the service. Hence, it is an open invitation to the thinkers of police and medical sciences of the present world to pay due attention to the police health care services.
Unfortunately, the thinkers of modern-day police are yet to devote their time on the vital issue of police health which concerns the vast police population and their families. The men in uniform have their own occupational health problems and on the other hand. the diseases have their impact over the police duty. Health of women troops, sports persons, recruits, etc. have their own peculiarities. Hence, the task as a whole is enormous.
My two decades long association with the police force has made me to go through the available police literatures in many units, group headquarters, academies, training centers, etc. Our cupboards are full of police principles, philosophies, morals, training methods, experience and memoirs of veteran police officers. They speak of the failures and achievements of police forces in civil and frontier operations. But it was painful for me to find that the coverage of the police health care system has been grossly inadequate. Such a situation has compelled me to start a trend from a scratch. No worth referable literature is available on the subject. Hence, the present writing is largely based on my experiences, gathered from work and study made in own force and sister organizations.
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